1970s

The 1970s, also called "the Seventies", was a decade of the 21st century that lasted from 1 January 1970 to 31 December 1979. The '70s had a unique culture that made it a distinct era, with the rise of disco, cocaine, and nightlife being dominating features of the 1970s in popular culture. It was also a time of economic stagnation due to the 1973 oil crisis, a time when people often engaged in drug use and promiscuous sex, and when terrorism dominated the news as terrorists hijacked planes and held the passengers hostage.

The decade began towards the end of the counterculture movement, with the Vietnam War coming to an end for the United States in 1973 and for Vietnam in 1975. Terrorist groups such as Weather Underground and the Symbionese Liberation Army waged urban guerrilla warfare against the US government in opposition to its foreign policy during the first five years, but the end of the Vietnam War and the drop in public support for the government led to the rest of the 1970s being a time of partying in the United States. People focused more on themselves and less on their country, and many people did drugs, went to discos, and lived dangerous lifestyles.

In the rest of the world, the 1970s was not a time for partying. The events of 1972's Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland led to the Provisional IRA launching a separatist terrorist campaign in both Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, and the pro-British Ulster Volunteer Force fought against the IRA separatists with their own attacks on Irish Catholic republicans. In Israel, Palestinian terrorism escalated to a new height as the Palestinians decided to launch attacks on Israeli and American targets overseas, including a series of air hijackings and the 1972 Munich Massacre. Palestinian guerrillas carried out several massacres of Jewish civilians in Israel itself, including attacks on schools, buses, and settlements, and their notoriety led to Jordan expelling them from its lands. In 1975, the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War saw Israel back Christian militias in Lebanon against the Syrian-backed Shi'ite factions such as the Amal Movement, while the PLO fended for itself. This three-way conflict saw the militias engage in massacres and sectarian conflict, and the conflict would not end for another 30 years. The Middle Eastern countries began an oil embargo against the United States as a result of its support for Israel, leading to the US' partners across the world (such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands) also suffering from oil shortages. Gas for cars was rationed, and winters were terrible.

The 1970s also saw political upheaval across the world. In Africa, colonies of Portugal fought for independence, and civil wars between communist and pro-US factions would break out in Angola and Mozambique after independence. There were many coups in these countries, with politicians such as Idi Amin and Mengistu Haile Mariam seizing power from the former regimes and taking power for themselves. In Asia, wars broke out between Cambodia and Vietnam, China and Vietnam, Bangladeshi rebels (with Indian help) and Pakistan, the Soviet Union with China (small skirmishes), and East Timor and Indonesia as liberation movements fought against oppressive governments and US-backed parties fought Soviet-backed parties. In Latin America, the US backed military coups against communist or socialist-leaning dictators, supporting Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup in Chile. They also helped in fighting socialist revolutions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, although the governments' use of death squads turned international opinion against the US puppets.

At the close of the 1970s, the Cold War had entered a new era; the United States would support dictators against communists rather than invade countries, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to protect the communist government (one of the few Soviet military actions during the Cold War), and the US and Israel consolidated a formidable alliance that would last for decades to come.